As many of you know, I have a great aunt, Aunt Cola, who is the love of my life. She is my grandmothers baby sister and the last living sibling of my grandmother. Aunt Cola is 92 years old and requires assistance daily for the things we take for granted. My mom and I are Aunt Cola caregivers. We love her & don’t mind taking care of her but folks just don’t understand what it takes to be a caregiver.
[Tweet “Caregivers are a gift from God and our work is so important but oftentimes overlooked as minuscule”]
Today, in honor of National Caregiver Month and in honor of my aunt, I’m asking everyone to do a random act of kindness to any caregiver you know or come in contact with.
November is National Family Caregivers month, and the Random Acts of Kindness initiative aims to recognize and support the 40 million unpaid caregivers in the U.S. Many caregivers are boomer women, often sandwiched between the needs of their parents and their own kids.
A popular misconception is that caregivers are paid medical professionals, providing full-time care to someone in need of daily help, when in reality, most caregivers are family members or friends who are also working and managing their own families at the same time. For many, the caregiving role starts with simple things like scheduling a doctor’s visit or helping with daily errands but gradually expands over time, until it becomes a major commitment in their lives.
Almost three in ten people who are caring for someone say their life has changed with caregiving, oftentimes for the negative. More than one in five say their weight, their exercise, or their social life has/have suffered. Emotionally, one in five say they are generally unhappier and one in three say they feel sad or depressed. That’s why AARP created a community where caregivers can connect with experts and other caregivers and can find information and tools to take even better care of the person who once took care of them.
“This is a sponsored post on behalf of Element Associates and Midlife Boulevard.”
Leave a Reply